Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others

Nostalgia Trip, Part 2

Sharq was not sure whether the whirlpool was washing over him gently or battering him into the water. Either way, it felt kinda funny watching as Splin flew towards the side rapidly while Ari recited something above him.

From the top, the whirlpool looked like a flatter, more chaotic version of what Sharq imagined a rainbow would look like once crashing into water. Of course, within the liquid, it was somewhat less pretty and much more chaotic. Thin streams of red, yellow, and green danced a chaotic waltz in a spiral downwards towards who knows where, and through the underwater cyclone, Sharq could notice fish gathering around their trap curiously. Whenever one got too curious, it swam towards the spiraling current and was promptly sucked in, and Sharq would have a new companion. He would soon toss them back, though he may have been peckish, he certainly did not want to risk eating someone's cousin.

This continued for quite some time. Eventually, the terrified yelps of his brother and the stunning narration of Ari ceased, leaving three stupid Inkling boys who thought it was a good idea to jump straight into the eye of the hurricane, as it were.

"Screw- you- voice- Splin's voice rolled about the whirlpool a variety of times as he spun, not limited to that order, mind you.

Contrary to the rampant way he flew around, Ari seemed comfortable in the midst of the chaos. "Ah, but what an adventure is this! From absolute madness and familiar sights!"

"You literally JUST joined us!" Splin managed to yell as they swirled around. "How would you know the plot synopsis?!"

Ari arched an eyebrow. "It's a narrator's creed. You wouldn't understand, rival."

Sharq bit his lip. As the two of them shot back and forth, both using words and due to the bizarre, rampant liquid, the older brother noticed something churning below them. As he looked down, Sharq squinted his eyes, as well as slap a few fish away. What looked like the seafloor below them had a sizable hole embedded in the ground, with the whirlpool leading them ever closer.

"Uh, guys?" Sharq pointed out, or tried to what with the vortex flinging him around like a ragdoll. "I think we have bigger problems than writing jokes."

The two other Inklings ceased their bickering and glanced downwards. Sand shifted around the ocean floor, scattering any sea life daring enough to explore. At the very bottom, the hole spun rapidly, quickly pulling them closer and closer.

"Ha!" Ari scoffed at the opening in the ground. "A hole? Bring on a REAL challenge!"

As if listening intently, suddenly the stream they were surfing in began to shake and stutter. Droplets of salt water dripped from around them among the safe, multicolored liquid, stinging their skin. Splin hissed at Ari in outrage and clawed at him through the whirlpool much to his dismay. Sand and mud began to collect among the edge of the hole as well, blotting up the entrance, causing the water around them to begin to cave in.

"...Uh." Ari blinked plainly, tilting his Jungle Hat down to cover his eyes. "...Nevermind."

"Ari!" Splin shouted in outrage as he sunk faster and faster to the ground, wiping the sea off of of his face as it attempted to flood their undersea tunnel of safety.

Ari scowled and crossed his arms throughout their tumble downwards. "Well, excuse me prince."

"...What?" Splin muttered. "That doesn't make any-"

He was cut off from being swallowed by the earth. The three Inklings vanished into the hole as the spinning motion above them dissipated. The dust settled back on the seafloor as well as fish shaken from the conundrum, going along their merry way while three teenagers vanished off into a time and space somewhere out in the vast reaches of the universe.

Smashing into steel, Splin and Sharq groaned in pain, getting up rather shakily. Sharq gripped his brother's hand, pulling him up from the floor. Splin shook his head in a daze and glanced around, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ugh." He muttered, stretching his neck with a satisfying yet disconcerting crack.

"Hmm." Sharq hummed, kicking at the blue ink under his feet.

"Ah!" Yelled Ari from across the stage.

Suddenly, all three of the Inklings stared around in curiosity. A large, steel railway track ran along a decaying iron bridge over the stage. A set of metal platforms, starting with the tallest ones Splin, Sharq, and Ari were standing on gradually led down to a pair of longer rectangular platforms with short brick walls arranged in a formation that resembled a plus symbol underneath the bridge. Walls led from the second lowest platform down to the lowest two. From top to bottom, nearly each and every spot of ground that could be physically painted was covered in an orange goop.

The youngest Bate Brother grimaced at the sight and looked straight down at his feet soon after he took in the orange mess. He found himself standing in yet another pool of ink sitting in a metallic platform. Sharq glanced down as well, lifting his shoe from the azure sludge. Yet another spawn-pad coated in blue ink laid dormant at their feet, as did Ari from far across the map.

Ari hummed in interest. "Well now."

"What is it, Ari?"

Turning around, Ari noticed three other Inklings garbed in their trademark attire, or at least the attire he asked them to wear. Sari, Rit, and Bas stared back at him, Sari leaning on the cubical brick wall that enclosed the spawn-pad while the other two laid on the top of the crumbling bricks, all with a curious look on their face.

Ari turned back towards the other two males far across from him and smirked. "Er, nothing you need to worry your pretty heads about…"

Splin bit his lip and stared down at the ocean of orange. "You remember how this goes, right?"

Tilting his Takoroka Mesh, Sharq stared at the orange ink inquisitively. "Uh, does something come out?"

"We 'things' have names, you know." A feminine voice answered back from the ink.

Just then, something poked out from the orange expanse. A Sporty Bobble hat towered out of the ink, dripping orange from the top of the white fuzz. Eventually, the hat gave way to a light female face wearing a Berry Ski Jacket and a pair of Crazy Arrows.

"Name's Zip," She spoke in a polite tone, hefting a Carbon Roller from out of the ink, "I'll be your hostess for tonight's activities."

A pleased hum escaped Sharq's lips. He walked forward one step, but before he could say a word, Splin quickly reached out with his right hand.

"Nice to meet you." He spoke up, grasping for her hand.

Just then, a bead of sweat dripped down his face. Jerking back violently, he narrowly avoided a tidal wave of orange from several other weapon types, from rollers to every other ranged weapon on the face of the planet. As ink dripped from the thin spherical barrier blotting out ink from their adversaries, Splin gritted his teeth, dipping his hand in the blue ink below.

"...Uh…" Splin muttered with a glance towards the clouds. "Pleased to meet you. I...hmm...I take it you're not willing to negotiate?"

Sharq arched an eyebrow curiously. The situation seemed rather familiar, and yet there was something off about the whole situation. But before he could put his finger on it, the ink in front of them shifted. Zip walked to the side expectantly.

Adjusting his Retro Specs, the next Inkling stood poised with his Krak-On Roller pointed towards the sky. While he brushed off his Varsity Jacket, he merrily kicked in a rhythm with his Yellow Seahorses. Willie beamed back at Splin and Sharq whilst he stood side by side with Zip.

"You got the name of the game, Music Man!" Willie shouted with a bizarre sense of glee. "We've been hired to splat you and your buddy there if you take a single step outside of your spawn-pad! My name's Willie, and you and your pal Shady over there don't stand a chance!"

Splin gulped. He knew what would happen if he stepped outside of the barrier. He certainly did not want to get splatted over and over. Again.

"Psst." He whispered towards Sharq, who perked up, eyeing him curiously. Splin walked towards the back of the spawn-pad with a smile aimed at the orange team as he did. He dragged his older brother towards the back and stared him dead in the eyes. "Alright, Sharq, you remember how this goes?"

"...Does it have something to do with exploding?" Sharq suggested with a tilt of his head.

"Hmm." Splin responded, with the addition of a curt nod. "Pretty much."

"Ooh!" Sharq clapped his hands together, which only served to unnerve Splin. "I understand."

He gave him a look that said, "Do you?" in one glare. The younger brother sat in the ink, perfectly content with his safe spot.

Sharq stood up straight with a pout. "Yeah. Watch." He spoke up, gripping a Krak-On roller coated blue from behind his back.

"Wait, what?" He shook his head and rubbed his eyes clean, staring at Sharq holding the weapon. "How did you- Wait, no! That's not what I-"

"Charge!" Sharq exclaimed proudly as he hefted his roller above his head, blue paint dripping from the rotating roller head.

But before he could take a step out of his spawn, Splin reached around his waist and pulled him back. His older brother responded with a wheeze and dropped his roller by the front of the spawn-pad as they fell back towards the brick wall behind them, a myriad of several different orange Inklings assaulting the pad and dropped weapon as if they would break through. The roller slid back towards them, now coated in an orange and blue combination as it landed at Sharq's feet.

"Aw." Sharq sighed and reached for the roller.

Splin stood up with a glare directed towards Ari on the other side. Through the wall of squids attempting to lay siege to them, he noticed him shrug in earnest. Frowning and reaching at his back, Splin grasped at the air until he felt a familiar cylindrical container.

"Oh, perfect." Splin rolled his eyes, patting around his pockets. "I don't even have any weapons. This whole adventure is just like a carousel of curses."

Suddenly, Splin's headphones around his ears buzzed. A bizarre set of music began playing. But before he could pinpoint the tune, he simply wrapped the blue Designer Headphones around his neck.

With a shake of his head, Splin simply muttered, "Nope."

A blur rushed past him. Roller gripped in his palms, Sharq brought it over his head with an expression glee stuck on his face. Before he could swing it, a variety of squids popped out with several weapons aimed at him as he left the safety of the round barrier. Yet again, Splin had to wrangle him back, leaping up, grappling Sharq by his abdomen. This time, none of the squids seemed to have the gall to shoot, but they were certainly confused. The whole lot of orange Inklings, garbed in various different Turf War equipment gawked at Splin and Sharq as they sat in their own safe little bubble away from the whirling members of death that sat just outside their small force field.

"No." Splin muttered with a shake of his head. "We're not doing that again."

"Aw, but Splin!" Sharq frowned as he flung ink at the enemy team from within his grasp. "We could probably win this time!"

Splin rolled his eyes. "Really?" With a single step, he got up and walked out into the fray. Within the span of a second, he reemerged from the spawn pad. He dusted himself off and gestured to himself towards Sharq.

His brother shrugged with a smile. "Well, maybe if you had a weapon you could've beaten someone."

The other Inkling shook his head. "No, Sharq. Haven't you noticed a trend so far? Everything we've done ended pretty similarly to how it went in the past. We tried to leave the ink slide park in peace, and it ended up getting destroyed. We probably COULD have left Ari to himself or just lost, but against all odds-"

"We won?" Sharq added in with an eyebrow arched.

"Exactly!" Splin threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Whatever's going to happen next is probably just going to end in us losing. There really isn't a point to this, either."

Sharq blinked once. A minute passed, and he said nothing, and just stared at his brother. Sitting next to them were the other orange squadron, also silent. Most silent of all, or at least unable to be heard from far across them, was Ari and his squadron, who waited impatiently on their other side of the depot. Splin glanced around somewhat irritably, until his irritation faded into a simple awkwardness.

Then, much to Splin's surprise, applause erupted from in front of him. Multiple different enemy squad members shouted various words of approval from, "Alright!" to "Vent that frustration!" as confusing as that sounded to him.

"...What the?" Splin murmured as he gawked around at everyone.

Zip smirked. "Hey, a rant's a rant. We can't blame you. We all have stuff that we have to deal with in our lives."

Willie nodded in response. "Yeah!"

"The guy with the headphones is right!" Another Inkling spoke out among the orange crowd, everyone turning around in response. "Why are we even beating these two up for money?"

Another one chimed in. "That's super cliché!"

"If I went to study instead of waste my time in Turf Wars like this, I would probably know what that word means!" One final Inkling spoke up.

That seemed to rile them all up. Moving in a single mob, the rest of the orange Inklings rushed around Willie and Zip, dashing down towards the opposite side of the stage. Multiple splashes and explosions erupted in the background, all accompanied by the sound of ink splashing and splattering here and there. Yelps joined in the symphony of alarming sounds, along with the noise of several coins raining down onto metal.

"...Well then." Splin hummed as he looked towards the Inkling couple, who appeared just as surprised as he was.

"Victory by preaching!" Sharq cheered and slapped Splin on the back, who was sent out of the protection of his spawn.

"Gah!" He yelped, covering his face with his arms swiftly.

Instead of ink blasting him into oblivion, light chuckling came from the other side of his arms. Retracting his defensive pose while blinking, he began staring at the curious couple smiling back at him with outstretched hands.

"Hey man, we're not gonna krill you now. We ain't heartless, you know!" Willie spoke up, offering his hand to him.

Zip nodded with him. "We never did get that handshake, did we?"

A suspicious eye was all Splin gave in return. Though cautious, Splin glanced at the duo's eyes. He could not see any second thought of betrayal or anything of the sort. He gulped nervously, then reached out with both hands, grasping their own.

"!" The two perked up instantly. Splin retracted his hand and gawked at them as well as took a step back, just in case.

"...Splin?" Willie muttered with a blink of his eyes as if he had just woken up. "Whoa. I didn't see you come in, man. What are you, a wizard or something?"

Zip appeared just as tired and arched an eyebrow at the brother suspiciously "...Huh. Hey, Splin. Just stopping by to say hello or-"

The both of them froze. Eyes wide open, they glanced around their surroundings, stepping on the orange layer around their feet while they looked down at the sea and the floor.

"...Déjà vu!" They exclaimed at the same time.

Sharq stared at them with a smile. "Good to have you back!"

The two of them swerved towards Splin with curiosity brimming in their eyes. All Splin could do was shrug and say, "Uh...another one of those days."

Zip looked as though she were about to say something probably not vital to the story. Then she gasped and spoke, "Is that why Sharq's drowning?"

"BLRRGERGUGUGHG!" Came Sharq's immediate response.

Splin spun around in shock. A brotherly hand poked out of the newly formed blue whirlpool and reached and grasped for anything to hold onto. Eventually the hand just shrugged and gave up. It sank into the azure ink without a sound. Splin gasped, and without a second thought, sprinted in after him. Splin began switching into a squid and diving straight into the whirlpool, vanishing with a splatter of ink marking the walls by the spawn-pad.

"It's one weird day after the next with those two." Zip commented with a stare.

Willie nodded as well. In the background, Ari shouted something among the mob of about a dozen Inklings rampaging, coins dropping left and right from a pouch he lifted above his head.

Splin opened his eyes nearly instantaneously. He woke up among a soft comfort supporting his back. With a sigh, he closed his eyes again, glad that the dream was over.

At least, he would have been glad if he had not figured out that he had been napping on a plant. With a frantic breath in and out quickly, he glanced around, then down to his comforter. A plump yet small tree with large leaves served as his mattress. As he stared at the sky, he noticed that the roof was clear and the sky was gray, heat emanating all around the dome as he stared.

"...Kelp Dome." Splin muttered to himself.

He lifted himself up from his impromptu bed and hopped off. When he did, he felt a burning sensation down in his shoes. A small hiss escaped his lips as he hopped to one side. With a glance down at his shoes, he noticed his Orange Arrows soaked in a fuchsia liquid.

Splin's eyes widened. "Oh no."

He glanced directly ahead of him. A cylindrical tower stood tall among several rows of greens stuck in small metallic planter cubicles. On top of the tower, a spherical, yellow dome laid on top, with a shivering yellow fish stuck inside. The Zapfish jittered, whether from a nervous feeling or from the fact that it was being used to charge its own prison, Splin was unsure. However, he was sure of the Octoling that sat next to it. Her Octoling Goggles were wrapped around her neck, and a tired yet eager expression remained on her face. She stretched her arms, rustling her Octoling Armor somewhat, kicking at the air with her Octoling Boots.

Tai snickered mischievously. "Lady? My, how quaint of you."

At the foot of the tower, Sharq blinked rapidly until his eyes settled on Tai. From the way he carried himself sluggishly and the way his eyes spun, it was clear that he was just as confused as Splin was just seconds before. Only this time, he had an Octoling in front of him. An Octoling who did not remember them. Most certain of all, an Octoling that would no doubt beat them down.

"Next thing, I'll bet you'll take me out for a refined dinner at that little city of yours." She cooed down at him.

As if finished being stunned from drowning moments prior, Sharq's eyes focused on the Octoling. "...Tai?"

Splin wanted to shout that she probably did not remember them. She was probably just going to smack them silly.

But instead Tai's expression appeared taken aback, eyes growing wide, sweat dripping down her face. "M-Masaka? Baka na!"

"...What?" Sharq tilted his head in confusion.

Tai just grinned. Her symptoms of worry dissipated. "Heh. Just screwing with you." She stood up straight, cracked her knuckles...her boneless knuckles, and reached behind her back. "Well, it was nice knowing you."

"Hold on!" Splin shouted from across the way.

Both cephalopod teenagers turned towards him. Splin gritted his teeth and reached at his back. Still no weapon. Yet somehow Sharq could pull out a roller willy-nilly. Without a second thought, he charged towards the two.

The Octoling smirked, pulling out what appeared to be a Splat Bomb. "Aha. Another idiot I can blow up."

"Whoa, whoa!" Splin said shaking his hands in- Fear? Worry? It was hard to decipher considering the level of danger he was hurling himself into. "Can't we talk this out? Tai, you're nice, we can work this out!"

Apparently, "nice" was not exactly the word to use on her. "...Who told you that?"

Splin slowed down to a stop. "Eh?"

"...You know my name." She spoke dangerously as she walked towards the edge of the platform. "You know that I do not splat anyone."

Splin worried that she was going to explode in anger. Instead, she just sighed and shook her head. "Eh. Can't be helped."

"...You're going to let us go?" Sharq asked curiously.

"No, I'm going to knock you out and make sure you never tell anyone else." She replied, stretching her arms. "There goes my reputation…"

"Aw, ship." Splin cursed much louder than he would have hoped.

She leaped down from the platform above, kicking off of the Zapfish's bulb. Though shaken, the fish continued to buzz violently in its round cage. Reaching behind her back, she began bombarding the two Inklings with Splat Bombs aplenty. Sharq frowned at Splin with a shake of his head. Before he could shoot back any arguments, the two scattered to the side behind planters, just barely having dodged the ballistic ink bombs as they smashed into the floor. As Tai landed, she sunk into the violet ink, leaving a trail as she swum through the several puddles around the two.

"Uh, did she do this before?" Sharq asked. Instead of Splin responding, an octopus kicked him in the stomach. "Guh!"

"Sharq!" Splin reached out. He was punched in the chest. "Agh!"

Almost like a pinball, Tai bounced off of the two, raining blow after blow on them. The two scattered and left the area via a ramp that led up to a large steel skywalk that towered over the rest of the dome's floor. However, the Octoling was hot on their heels, shooting and tossing bombs at them. Instead of the murderous, terrible effect they would assume it would have, most of the bombs smacked into them and exploded somewhere else and the ink stained their clothes, but nothing more.

"Gaaaah!" Sharq squealed, smacking away several blots of ink. He turned to Splin, who ran next to them across the metal set of platforms. "Since when was Tai so violent?!"

Splin gave him a blank face.

"Oh." Sharq remarked under his breath. "Well, still! Can't you make her remember us or something?"

Splin glanced down at his hands. For whatever reason, they had helped them out throughout this mess. If he could get over to Tai and lay his hand on her…

He shuddered. It sounded like a much better idea in his head. Nevertheless, if they wanted to stop her from assaulting them with glass prisms and paint that would be painstaking to remove from their clothes later, he would need to do it. Eventually, the two stopped at the middle of the arena on a large, circular platform with two adjacent, thick slabs jutting out of it. They stopped in the center and turned around. The two simultaneously agreed in their minds that an angry Tai was absolutely terrifying. She was a fury of bombs and ink being launched in their direction. Splin turned to Sharq, a worried look mirrored in both of their eyes. With a nod, Sharq brandished his large roller that he managed to retain and slammed it into the platform.

Blue ink spread in an instant. Now that a new puddle was created, the two hopped into it and stayed put. Across from them, Tai hefted a Splat Bomb over her head, sloshing the violet ink back and forth within the glass container. She tossed the bomb at the pool of blue they hid in with a huff. The explosive flashed dangerously. All of a sudden, as the pyramid of ink appeared ready to explode, the brothers hopped out into the air. As the bomb exploded behind them, the brothers were launched towards the Octoling. Sharq smashed into her and the two of them unceremoniously tumbled over the side. Splin hopped off after them in squid form and dropped through the grates of the platform in an instant.

The next few seconds were, quite frankly, a mess. Sharq and Tai hit the floor. Tai hissed and punched him off of her with a loud smack. Splin aimed at the Octoling like a bullet and smashed into her.

The end result ended with a trio of groaning cephalopods. Sharq shook his head. He rubbed his right eye, a pang of pain erupting from the bottom. He then took notice of the two others. Splin laid in a pool of violet and stared at the sky tiredly. Tai rubbed her head and groaned.

"Jeez…" Tai muttered and glanced around. "...What?" She took immediate notice of the two brothers, especially Sharq. "Sharq? Why do you keep showing up in my- Oh jeez."

Sharq smiled back at her. "Hi Tai."

"Your eye…" She pointed out.

If there ever was a better term for black eye, Sharq had the prime definition. His trademark Inkling face was bruised around his right eye, puffing up somewhat.

Sharq just waved her off and laid a hand on the wounded eye. "I'm totally fine. Just stings a little."

"Who did this to you?" She asked with a scowl. "I'm not gonna pull any punches with them."

Sharq bit his lip. "Um, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is how Splin-" His left eye expanded in an instant. "Splin!"

Around the younger brother, the violet ink swirled dangerously. Splin sank into the goo quickly, much to the others' shock. The two other cephalopods sprinted for him, reaching their hands out for the younger brother.

"SPLIN!" They called.

He sank faster.

"Splin!"

It grew darker and darker.

"Splin."

Nothing.

"..."

Splin did not know where he was now. He felt like he was suffocating. He made a feeble attempt to open his mouth, but as soon as he did, it felt as though the breath was being sucked right out of him. He immediately elected to keep his mouth shut. For a while, he just drifted. He did not know where he was going or where he was.

"...Splin."

Splin hesitated. If he opened his eyes, they might be scorched by a flood of ink. He shut them tighter.

"...Open your eyes, Splin. I have to tell you something in person."

He shook his head violently. Whatever this voice was telling him, he did not want to give in.

"...Splin? ...Ugh, one second."

Not that he had a choice, the young Bate Brother waited.

"...Splin, honey?"

He froze.

"Open your eyes, please...Your father's made it pretty clear he wants to talk to you."

He started to gasp for breath. His eyes opened wide, and he was fully aware they could be corroded in an instant. But he certainly did not care. He knew those voices. Turning around, he saw nothing but pitch black. He began to hyperventilate, glancing around and around and-

A set of comfortable blue tentacles landed on his shoulders. "Calm down…oh my. You've grown so much."

Splin's heart could have stopped right then and there, and that would hardly matter. Not just because he might have had multiple ones, but because nothing was going to keep him from turning. A pair of Black Arrowbands and two bright hazel eyes stared back at him with a smile. Pirah hugged him from behind, her Black Pipe Tee barely visible in the darkness, though her Plum Casuals stood out the most. She buried her face into Splin's shoulder.

"I think I'm going to cry. Like, a whole flood." She sniffled. "I'm sorry we were late for your birthday. I don't even know how long, two years? Three- Oh, who cares."

"...This is a dream." Splin blinked once.

Pirah let go of him and smiled. "I wish I could be there in person. Trust me. I think I bugged Phish to the moon and back on much on how much I pleaded for this to happen."

"Phish?" Splin muttered in confusion.

"Splin, you are quite probably the fifth craziest Inkling I know." A voice permeated the area.

Splin and Pirah turned around, his mother with a growing smile on her face. Phish stepped forward, adjusting his tie. He wore a pair of Tinted Shades on his forehead and stepped forward on a pair of scuffed Black Trainers.

He stopped once and tapped his chin. "Well, right next to your brother."

"How is this-" Splin blinked rapidly.

With a squeal of delight, Pirah hugged him again. He felt like he was being suffocated again, but in a good way. "It's amazing, isn't it? I can't believe it either, but here we are! Gosh, I missed you."

"Pirah, you're going to splat him before I can get the chance to talk to him." Phish shook his head with a frown.

She rolled her eyes and let go. "Aw. Fun fact about your dad, he's always been a spoilsport. But I guess I can let the two of you talk."

As she finished, she stepped to the side, a smile still clearly apparent on her face. Splin stared at her in awe, then turned towards his father, who walked towards him slowly. He was not sure how to respond. He was glad, sure…but he had been gone for quite a few years. Should he be angry, he thought. This is just a dream.

Yet here his father was, kneeling in front of him. "...I'd imagine you must have a few questions."

Splin wanted to call him out. "Yeah, like why did you kick us to the curb?" But the words failed him.

Phish closed his eyes with a sigh. "I get it, we've been gone for a while. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being gone, and I'm sorry for wishing you a belated birthday."

He wanted to contradict him. He wanted to argue that he was not sorry at all. But he did not. Did he want to? No…yes?

"I'm also sorry for making you go through all...that." He muttered as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Splin looked appalled at his revelation. "That's what that was all about?!"

"...We needed to see if you could handle this." He scowled and glanced away. "It has been difficult trying to reaching you here. Even with...some help."

Splin swore he saw a shape flicker in the background. Whatever that was, he ignored it and continued to watch his father in front of him.

"But still, I cannot just let this go by anymore." Phish spoke up and stood up. "Splin, you and your brother have been through pretty strange stuff. Breaking things, getting teleported, Super Jumping-"

"Hey!" Pirah frowned and crossed her arms. "That's not fair. We do that too."

Phish chuckled to himself. "Yes, I guess we do. But Splin, I did not just come here to just comment on your life. You've got a few struggles ahead of you. Most...not great. But I'm sure you can...er, go at it. It's somewhat uncertain...you might second guess yourself."

"...Gee, thanks dad. Wonderful advice." Splin found himself saying. "Not at all generic."

Phish seemed startled. But behind him, Pirah seemed like she was trying not to laugh. He cleared his throat. "Er, I'm not great at helping people out with their problems. All I can really offer is a warning of things yet to come…voice, you're still watching over him?"

Yeah, sure.

"Well, there you go." Phish spoke up. "Things are going to be fine. I should know, I've come back from worse."

"But- Hang on." Splin scowled. "There's still so many questions. Where are you? Why did you leave?"

His father bit his lip. "...Sometimes there are no good answers to good questions."

Splin deadpanned in the dark. "Happy birthday to me."

"I'm sorry, Splin." Pirah folded her arms sympathetically. "We would explain more if we could. Some things are fragile, you know? We can't risk anything catastrophic happening if we say the wrong words."

"Sort of like your mother's feelings." Phish pointed out.

"Exact- Mm." She hummed dangerously and arched an eyebrow at Phish, who just smirked in response. "...Aw, it's true."

As she said so, she grappled the two of them in a hug. Phish sighed and made a face at Splin that suggested he played along. Splin rolled his eyes and huddled closer. The three of them remained in that position for quite some time.

Then Splin's eyes shot open. "Ah! Sharq!"

Breaking the hug, he glanced at the pitch black ceiling. There was no sight of anything but the dark color all around. He gritted his teeth.

"...Oh, it would be perfect if my little Sharq was here too." Pirah sighed and hugged herself morosely. "Maybe even Xarius…"

Phish nodded. "Right. Splin, remember to keep that advice in mind, and happy belated birthday."

"Wait, what?" Splin turned around at the two of them.

Phish and Pirah stood side by side in the darkness. All of a sudden, a white panel emerged from the black room. They waved back at Splin as more white tiles popped up from the darkness. One by one, the tiles began to obscure his view of them. His parents were now cloaked in an invisible white light. Splin shouted out for them, reaching across as the room vanished in a flash of light.

The youngest Bate Brother woke up on his bed in his small wooden home. He got up slowly but surely, a morose feeling flooding through his chest. His heart ached as it beat slowly, and yet he felt completely refreshed. Splin stood up on the ground with a sigh, and walked over towards the stairs of his house. He made his way to the door underneath, reached for the knob on the front, and turned it. Walking over towards the sink, he reached for the faucet when-

"Aaugh!" He screamed, reaching at the tie he found on his shirt.

Taking the random fashion accessory off of him, he quickly reached for the drawer underneath the sink and stuffed the tie inside. He then took the time to shut the door and turn on the faucet and douse himself with water, despite the sting it delivered to his face. Then he paused, turned off of the faucet, and sighed.

He stared down at the drawer. Nervously, he glanced around to check if anyone was around. After a double-take, he opened it and reached inside. The tie, with multiple fishes swimming around the pale blue sea on it, sat in the wooden comforts of the drawer. Splin retracted his hand with a tight grip around the tie. He raised it up to his neck and looked in the mirror.

"Happy belated birthday." He thought he heard his reflection say.

AN: There it is, folks. The rest of the chapters after this, assuming I don't quit writing due to Splatoon fading in popularity a bit, are probably going to focus on the other characters of the Bate Brothers universe. I'll probably end this story soon after I finish The Drafted Squid for plot reasons. You know, because I'm surprised this story managed to get a plot and get so far in the first place.

With that memo out of the way, time to respond to reviews. Thanks Ultrapyre, Rynowm, write n wrong, and sebastian G for reviewing.

It's been a long road of delays and writing Ultrapyre, but yes, it has been that long. Kinda startling, but it happened.

Rynowm, I hope this helped with that cliffhanger issue.

Yes, I am proud that I finally got Tai to punch someone write n wrong, it was certainly an exciting moment. Well, for me at least.

Thanks for chiming in again, sebastian G. It's nice to have old fans of the older story retain fond memories of it.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to do something. See you.